Time, Truth and Hearts
by Piepin
Summary: About Leray Flylily, the tribute from District 10 in the 207th Hunger Games. Basically, THG never happened. Rated T just in case.  Please please please R&R. I feel like I'm writing to a wall. O.o
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: I own the characters, and I own my style of writing, but I don't own the Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins does.**

**Also: I have tried to make it so that people who haven't read THG can understand, so:**

**-If you haven't read it and something doesn't make sense, TELL ME.**

**-If you have read it and plan to leave a review(please do ;) ), don't give any spoilers.**

**;D**

The day of the reaping. The day when one boy and one girl are chosen randomly from all twelve districts in Panem, to be sent into the arena. Where they will fight, to the death, and will all die. Except for one. For the winner, fame, fortune, and prizes, which largely consist of food. The losers aren't so lucky.

I dressed in a simple maroon shirt and jeans, put my long black hair in its usual ponytail that left my bangs in my eyes, and thumped down the stairs. We ate in silence, all thinking of the three thin slips of paper with my name written on it in Maloze Dunnet's sloppy handwriting, one for every year since I was eleven. My parents couldn't keep their eyes off me.

"Mom! Dad! Will you stop being _so_paranoid? I've made it through two reapings already, and both of you and Lerex have gotten through all of yours. I didn't even take any tessera! There is only _three_slips in there with my name on it!" Taking tessera is putting your name in the reaping extra times for a year's worth of grain and oil. We need it, but my parents would not allow it.

"I know, but Leray, it's our job to worry. Don't you remember Taere?" My father asked.

"Of course I remember her." I whispered as the tears that hadn't existed seconds ago threatened to seep out of my eyes.

At that moment, Lerex burst in. He walked into the dining room, donning a confused face upon seeing our unhappy ones. "Oh." He whispered as he realized what day it was. "Aw, c'mon, you'll be fine, Leray. You've only got one slip. That poor girl Jezzi Murphys has _twenty_."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Poor Jezzi. I hope she won't get picked. Doesn't she care for her whole family?"

"Yeah, her mom has that disability thing."

"Well," my mother interrupted, "It's almost eleven. We should be getting down to the square." The words she hadn't said echoed in the air. _To see off some poor child most likely going to their doom. On live television._

_Welcome to the Hunger Games._


	2. Chapter 2

The actual reaping doesn't begin until noon, but the walk down to the town square takes a half an hour, and we had nothing better to do but sit around anxiously, since my parents had already taken care of the animals.

"So, what have you been up to in your empty house, Lerex?" I asked, teasing.

"Trying to find some animals for sale. They're so hard to find for reasonable prices these days, with the new taxes."

"I know." My father said. And thus began a long and boring conversation about the pains of raising livestock. It _might _have been interesting, except for the fact that I'd heard it a thousand times. I tuned out their words and tuned in my own thoughts. _I might never see this place again. _I realized suddenly. _No, that's just silly. Of course I'm coming back. Of course. _But I didn't believe myself. Because no matter what I told myself, there was one slip of paper in there with _my _name on it. And there's always that chance…..

They reached the end of their conversation just as we arrived in the square which was already packed with most of District 10.

"Leray!" I whipped around at the sound of my name to find myself face-to-face with Essta Skyil.

"Essta!" I hug her.

"Hey Lerex!" He looked over to us, rolled his eyes, and walked off with his own friends. We giggled, both knowing inside Lerex was the only one not acting. Because the laughter was the only way to keep from breaking down.

"Have you seen Mayte?" Everyone went to her reaping day, since she was the one who needed the most comforting.

"Not yet. C'mon, we'd better find her." We headed to the section that the fourteen year old girls occupied, and didn't have to look long to find the large group surrounding Mayte. I pushed my way through to find a sobbing Mayte on the ground.

"Mayte." I said softly. She looked up at me and acknowledged me with a nod of her head as I sat next to her.

She looked me in the eye. "I miss her." She whispered.

"I know. We all do. We all do." Nothing came from her but sobs. "You've got to get up, Mayte. Taere would want you to see the reaping. To remember." I know it sounds mean, but the only way to get her past her grief is to push her forward. Her therapist said if she just keeps going through the motions, someday they'll have meaning again. So we pushed her forward.

I helped her up, and we moved to the rope at the front of our section, just in time, because Maloze Dunnet had just climbed onto the stage. The reaping was about to begin.


	3. Chapter 3

Maloze Dunnet, our escort from the Capitol, took his seat next to the mayor and our three remaining victors, Callie Tazin, Miea Thomas, and Gretor Overell. The mayor then stood and made his tedious yearly speech. The history of Panem, and how wonderful the Capitol is for sparing us complete destruction like the former Distinct 13, which once produced nuclear weapons. It now produces rubble. Finally, he finished, and Maloze stepped up to the podium.

"Hello, District 10! Producers of livestock and all things animal. I am your escort. I draw the names of the tributes randomly and escort them to the capitol along with the victors who will act as their mentors." Everyone in the square knew it, but he repeated it every year. Finally, the moment we had all been nervously anticipating came. "Ladies first." He said, stepping over to the glass ball filled with slips of paper. He reached deep in, shuffling his hand around and finally pulling one single slip out. "And our female tribute is…." He trailed off dramatically. "Jezzi Murphys!"

The first emotion I felt was a quick burst of relief, followed quickly by a storm of worry. _Not Jezzi! She takes care of her entire family! No… _But there was an outburst of yells and sobs from the corner where Jezzi should have been standing. Someone with a mask of tears came on to the stage and whispered in Maloze's ear.

"Oh, my." He whispered into the microphone as he listened. The person who I recognized as Jezzi's oldest sister rushed off the stage. "Well," he said awkwardly "It seems we have a small problem. Jezzi Murphys has…killed herself."

_What? _I couldn't believe it. Jezzi had spent all that time protecting and caring for her family just to kill herself? _We've got to help her family. _I add it to my mental things to do list. _I can't believe it. Jezzi was so nice…I wonder if this has ever happened before. I wonder what the President will think of this. A suicide in one of his perfect districts. Maybe he'll finally see…_

I was shocked out of my thoughts by the sound of my name and the people around me pushing me forward. And suddenly the images, feelings and sounds collide in my head. Maloze on the stage, with a slip in front of his face. The other girls pushing me forward. My name being called. It hits me all at once.

I am the tribute from District 10.

I am going to die.


	4. Chapter 4

I made my way up to the stage in a haze. Nothing felt real. I was dimly aware of Maloze talking to me, or at least about me. I did not return to reality until he left me alone and walked over to the boy's side. _Who gets to die with me? _

"And this year's male tribute is….." Another dramatic pause. "Charon Wavoss!" _Charon…_I recognized the name, but I couldn't put a face to it until he walked up to the stage. It was then that I remembered him. We had been friends when we were younger, until he moved to the far side of the district. I hadn't seen him since. I hadn't thought about him much, but this was not how I had imagined our reunion. I could tell he was in the same state I had just been in, so I didn't bother to make eye contact.

The mayor stepped up again and read the Treaty that ended the rebellion so many years ago. It was a boring document, but relatively short, so before long he'd finished, and all that was left was for me and Charon to shake hands. He met my eyes as we did, and I knew that he recognized me.

_I won't be able to kill him, _I realized._ I can't kill my old friend. _I didn't let it bother me long though, since there would be twenty-two others ready and willing to get the job done. Of course, those twenty-two would also be out to get me. We faced the crowd as the anthem of Panem played. My eyes searched for Mayte, and I finally found her and met her eyes. Just before they whisked us away, she burst into tears.

I was escorted into a large room with a velvet couch and a couple chairs. I sat carefully and tried to prepare myself for the hour of visitors I will soon have to deal with. I knew that I could not cry, for walking out with puffy eyes would have been like painting a target on my back. I had to be strong.

My first visitor was Lerex. I wondered if he was also thinking of my teasing and our conversation from the morning that had been oh so long ago. He sat next to me and took me into his arms, neither of us saying a word.

I finally broke our ominous silence. "You've got to help Jezzi's family. They'll die without her."

"Of course." The silence filled the room. "You're gonna be fine, Leray." I could tell he was trying to keep up his normal optimism, trying to be strong for me, but he had to believe himself before he would convince me.

"No, I'm not. There's going to be twenty-two people in there who will all want me dead, most of which will come from much wealthier districts, and they'll all be well-trained. I'm doomed." I was sure my words would bring him to tears, but it seemed my pessimism had only fed his optimism.

"No. You're going to be fine, Leray. You know animals better than any of them, so as long as you stay out of sight and use those speedy legs, you'll be fine."

I was about to make my cynical response, but a peacekeeper, one of the law enforcers of Panem, had come in and told us his time was up.

"Goodbye. I love you." I whispered into his ear as we hugged one last time. He repeated my words, and then he was gone.

My parents came in next. I reminded then to take care of Jezzi's family, and they tried to be optimistic, finally breaking down to tears when the peacekeeper wouldn't give them more time. They left in a flurry of tears and goodbyes.

My next guest was unexpected. Mayte cautiously opened the doors and peered in. As soon as she saw me she rushed to me and buried her head in my shoulder. I did my best to comfort her until she finally pulled away. She struggled with something around her wrist, then presented it to me.

It was a bracelet, orange like the sunset, that Taere had given her in this very room. It had been her lucky bracelet until the day of the reaping two years ago. She had given it to Mayte, saying it was no longer lucky for her.

Mayte looked me in the eye. "I haven't been able to yet, but maybe you can bring the luck back." The rest of our time was spent with her in tears, me trying to comfort her. At last, the peacekeeper insisted she had to leave. "You've got to win. You've got to try. For Taere." And she was gone.

Finally, Essta walked in. The entire time she was there, she shed not a tear, even though I could tell she really needed to. That's why I love her. She knows I can't deal with emotion. She knows me. We just talked. Finally though, we could no longer ignore the elephant in the room.

"So you're going to the Capitol."

"Yep."

"Mayte was here." It was more of a statement than a question. "She gave you Taere's bracelet?"

"Yeah. It's…a big step for her."

"I'll be watching. Every day. I'm going to watch you win."

"You mean watch me die."

"No. You won't die. You are so strong and brave. You're _smart. _ You _will _win." And then the peacekeeper escorted her out, leaving her words echoing in my mind.

_You will win. _


	5. Chapter 5

When we arrived at the train station, the train that would take us to the Capitol was already waiting for us. However, so were the crowds of reporters, who made us wait a long moment at the doors as they took our pictures. The train instantly began to move, and I was stunned by our speed. I had never been on a train.

The train was the most luxurious place I had ever been. There were several rooms with fancy furniture, and I had a cabin with a huge bed, my own bathroom, and a dresser full of clothes that Maloze said were all for me. When he released us until supper, the first thing I did was take a shower to think over all the events of the past two hours.

_It was only two hours? How is that possible? How can it be that a little over two hours ago I was peacefully eating breakfast with my family, and now I'll never see them again? _I finally let the tears that I had held back for so long fall down my face. I cried until my tears were gone. The water had gone cold ages ago, but I was long past caring. I finally pushed myself back into my cabin and looked through the dresser. I put on a simple blue dress, since I figured it would be my last chance to wear one, and put my hair into its usual ponytail, leaving my bangs in my eyes. I wander through the corridors, avoiding everyone, simply trying to escape my own head.

Finally, I heard Maloze calling me to supper. The past victors Callie Tazin and Gretor Overell are already there, waiting for me. As soon as I sat at the nicest table I'd ever seen, Charon walked in. I could tell that he had been crying. He sat quietly and occupied himself with the food that a man dressed in white had brought in as he sat down.

"So where's Miea?" I asked the other victors.

"They only need two mentors, and she was the one that got lucky." Gretor answered grimly. Our mentors are the ones who coach us through the three days of training and interview we have before the actual games begin. Once the games begin they try and get us sponsors who bet money on us winning, and our mentors use the money to send us gifts of things we need.

"Lucky?" I asked, anger rising.

"Yeah. She doesn't have to take two kids up to the Capitol and watch them die helplessly!" He was yelling by the time he finished.

"So that's it? We're just going to die? You don't think we even have a chance?" Charon slammed his fist on the table in anger. He had always had a quick temper. So had I.

"How old are you? Fourteen? What are your strengths? What strengths can you have coming from _here_?" He gestured to the area around us, though we were surely out of District 10 by then.

"I can hit anything with a knife. I know a lot about plants and animals. I know the easiest ways to kill them, and I know he shares all of these skills." I gestured to Charon. "We grew up throwing knifes into everything in the woods…." I trailed off, lost in my memory.

"You know each other?" There was surprise in his voice.

"We did. A long time ago." Charon said quietly.

"It wasn't that long ago." I protested. We all sat in silence for a while, me and Charon devouring the deliciously rich food. Finally I was full, and felt a little sick. I was about to get up and leave when Callie finally spoke.

"The two of you do have a chance. A fighting chance, but a chance to win all the same, and it's better than nothing." Her voice was barely a whisper, and I knew she was thinking of her own days on this train.

"Thank you." And I stood, preparing to leave.

"Wait. We have to watch the recap." Said Maloze. I sighed and sat, picking at what remained on my plate. I saw Charon doing the same. Finally, the adults finished eating and we moved to another room to watch the recap of the day when my luck ran out.


	6. Chapter 6

We travelled to a different compartment which contained a television and several chairs. The recap of the reapings and everything related to the Hunger Games were required viewing for all the residents of Panem. We watched them and listened to the Capitol commentators evaluate all the actions of the tributes. There were several volunteers in the first few districts.

In the districts closest to the Capitol, it's considered an honor to be chosen, and a much greater honor to win. Most of the time, the tributes from the first few districts are trained their entire life to go into the arena. Of course, you're not allowed to train, but this stops no one. The tributes from the first few districts are always trained, and are usually referred to as the Career tributes, or more often just the Careers.

They go through all the reapings, and finally come to ten. You see Maloze rooting about, and then me coming on stage. _What? They completely cut out Jezzi's portion. _I lock eyes with Charon and see he's thinking the same thing.

"Ugh. That's disgusting. Are they going to pay no notice to Jezzi?" I said. It was obvious they were not going to though. Finally, the end came.

Looking back, several tributes stood out to me: Courm, the huge male tribute from two, Aaron, an eighteen year old from five, Jaid, a very muscular girl from six, a pair of twins from eight whose parents I feel bad for, Rulley, a small twelve year old from eleven, and Sleech, a huge redhead from twelve.

As soon as it was over I left without another word. _How is it that this morning I was with my family? _It was such a long day. I didn't even bother to change. I slept in the beautiful dress, mentally crossing another day off my calendar.

"Wake up! We've got a big day!" I sighed as Maloze called loudly. The train had stopped moving. _We must have arrived at the Capitol early in the morning. _

I stepped into the shower again, taking my time, but not letting myself cry. When I stepped out, I found another dress, this time a deep green one, and walked down to the eating compartment, making sure I had Taere's bracelet with me. Maloze was still trying to get Charon up, but Callie and Gretor were already there. There was a buffet off to the side, so I piled up my plate and sat down.

Charon and Maloze arrived a moment later and filled their own plates. After a moment of silence, Charon spoke.

"What do you think the arena will be this year?" Every year the arena where the Hunger Games take place is in a different section of Panem, with a different environment and climate. Of course, sometimes the arena is completely manmade by the gamemakers, or the team of men and women who organize the Hunger Games.

"Who knows? It could be anything." Maloze's words and our food quieted us for a while, until I'd finally stuffed myself.

"So, remind me again what happens today?" I asked to the table in general.

Callie answers my question. "We're going to hand you over to your prep team and your stylist, who will do your makeup and put you in your outfits for the chariot ride." Once all the tributes have arrived, they ride in chariots up to the Training Center, dressed in an outfit that's supposed to help gain sponsors and represent their district. Most of the time our district is dressed as cows or some other livestock animal. Hopefully, the stylists will have some originality this year. We finish eating and Maloze leads us off of the train straight to the Remake Center, where I was introduced to my prep team.

"I'm Tora, this is Perat, and this is Barr." I had heard about the crazy fashions in the capitol and seen some of Maloze's, but I had thought the stories were exaggerated like Maloze's outfits. I was wrong. Tora's skin had a very pink tinge to it, and her straight hair was an electric blue, directly opposing the blood red color of Perat's, which she had somehow stuck straight up. Barr's seemed to be a natural brown, but his entire body was blue….and glowing. Literally. They ignored my gaping mouth and whisked me away; talking of how beautiful I would look once I lost my layer of grime and excess hair.

_Excess hair? _I thought angrily. _That hair's what keeps me alive in the winter. I hope it's not cold in the arena. _


	7. Chapter 7

They started by giving me a full and quite painful scrub down, which left my skin clean and very pink (though not quite as pink as Tora's). Then they applied a fabric to my legs, arms, torso and underarms, which when they pulled it off, also pulled off the hair. My team finally looked me over and decided I was ready.

They left, and walked back in moments later with my stylist. I recognized her from her several interviews.

"Zeaf?" I ask.

"Yes, it's me." Of all the people I met in the capitol, Zeaf was by far the strangest. She was always wearing some kind of hat, and for every Games, she dyed her hair a new color and gave it a new style. That year it was night sky blue, and was covered in glitter. Her outfit matched. This hat was a foot tall, midnight blue, and had small glittering lights all over it.

"Now, dearie, how do you feel about sheep?" _Ugh. We're going as livestock again. _

"Well….they're sheep. I like them as much as anyone else from my district."

"How do you feel about showing some skin?" I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, not _too _much. Just some stomach and legs." I shrugged, eager to be done.

She smiled and pulled something out from behind her back. My outfit was a short skirt made of fluffy wool, and a matching strapless shirt that went halfway down my chest. She put me in a pair of leather boots, and stood back to admire her work. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. I had to admit, Zeaf and her team did good.

Their next challenge was my hair and makeup. After lots of experimenting, they finally decided to do light touches of black and white, and they moved on to my hair, which was still in its ponytail.

"What should we do with it?" Tora asked Zeaf.

"Well, we could curl it…."

"I know!" Exclaimed Perat, the loudest sound she had made all day. She ran up to me and grabbed my bangs lightly. "The bangs in the very front, closest to her face, we dye white, and leave the rest in a ponytail. We can keep the black and white theme going." Barr and Tora were applauding lightly, and Perat looked to Zeaf for approval, who was studying my face and looked deep in though. She suddenly brightened.

"That's perfect!" When I was finally dyed and my nails were painted black with white designs, I was ready to go. We met Charon and his stylist Hictor in the waiting area for the chariots. He was dressed in a suit of wool, and I instantly felt bad for him in this incredible heat.

"It must be hot in there." I said sympathetically.

"At least we're not dressed as cows." I nodded in agreement. Suddenly the time had come, and we mounted our chariot. Zeaf gives us one last piece of advice.

"Remember, heads held high. Be friendly. Wave, smile. Now go!" And the horses drag us out to the crowd. They cheered our arrival, but I could also picture them, several days from now, cheering for something else. _Our blood._


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I took so long to update. I've been both busy and lazy. **

**Anyway, I also apologize for how long this chapter is. Soon enough, we'll get to the good parts. ;)**

The rest of the chariot ride went off without a hitch. We were not the stars of the show, but we got our fair share of attention. We waved and smiled and blew kisses to the audience. But I could not shake my thought that I was blowing kisses to a pack of bloodthirsty wolves.

Once the chariots reached the City Circle, we pulled up to the front of the president's house. He greeted us personally from his balcony. Compared to our last president, he's very young. However, Mr. Lockey's friendly brown curls and warm gold eyes mask a monster. What kind of good man would send twenty-three children to their deaths?

"Hello, tributes! Welcome to the 207th Hunger Games! I can't wait to see this year's arena. I'm sure our head gamemaker Octavious Flood has outdone himself! And I'm sure the twenty-four of you will put on quite the show." His enthusiasm made me sick. He then moved on to talk about how wonderful and kind the Capitol is, and their reason for the games. To remind us not to rebel. _Because that worked so well last time. _

Finally, he wrapped it up, and our chariots pulled us to the Training Center, where we would reside for five days. We had two days to train, one day of private training, one day of training for the pre-game interview, and a day for the interview itself.

_Six days from now, I'll be in the arena. _I shuddered. Finally, Charon and I stepped off the chariot, and into the tower dedicated to giving the tributes a home for their few remaining days. We took an elevator to the entire floor dedicated to District 10. I walked off to my room, not saying a word to Charon, Maloze, Gretor or Callie.

I explored the room as big as my entire house back home. The windows zoomed in and out to wherever I liked, I could program the closet to an outfit of my taste, and the shower had hundreds of options to choose from, everything from soaps and oils to water temperature and massaging sponges. I experimented for a while before I finally heard Maloze calling me to dinner.

I picked out a flowing green shirt and pants, and walked to the dining room at the end of the hall. At the table were Callie, Gretor, Zeaf, Hictor, Maloze and Charon. I sat in the empty seat next to Charon. Zeaf and Hictor were engaged in a tediously boring conversation about the latest ridiculous fashion in the Capitol. I tuned them out and turned to Callie and Gretor.

"So, what should we expect in training?" They had both been very quiet. They had probably been lost in the memories of their time here.

"Well, try and find _something _you're good at." Gretor said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charon challenged. "Just because we're livestock raisers, we're supposed to die before the games even begin? Do I have to remind you that the two of you won too?"

"What kind of fighting skills do two cow milking children have?"

"Knives." I said quietly. "They're a part of our everyday life. And for me, they're a hobby of sorts."

"I remember." Charon mused. He turned the conversation to the past victors. "She would run off into the woods for an entire day when we were younger. Most of the time, those were the days when we killed whichever animals had to die. She hated to watch, so she ran off into the woods. She would take a collection of knives into a little clearing and practice throwing them into the trees. If she got hungry, she'd hunt. She can fend for herself. It's me who's doomed."

"Is that true?" Gretor looked at me in disbelief.

"Of course it is." But I felt like I couldn't let Charon's compliment go unanswered. "But he-"I turned to Charon. "_You're _going to be fine. Remember our little strength contests? You _always _won. You could lift a tree." It was true. He was pretty large, and very muscular. "And you're pretty handy with knives too. You would come out once your job was done, and we would pass the hours making holes in all the trees…" I trailed off, lost in the memories of a much simpler time.

"Maybe District 10 has a chance this year. But some advice for the training: find some new skills. You'll need all the skills you can get." Callie had only spoken twice so far, and both of her statements had been about how we have a chance.

"Well, we know you think that. But what do _you_ think, since you're the one with so much doubt?" I looked to Gretor.

He sighed. "I suppose with the right strategy, you could make it far, or even win. We've been talking about posing you two as best friends reunited through the games. The sponsors will like that." The sponsors were those who gave money to our mentors while we were in the arena, which could be used to send us gifts, like medicine and food.

I asked Charon with a look. He nodded. "We'll do it."

By then, everyone had finished eating, so we went to a large room off to the side with an array of couches to watch the replay. The tributes slowly rolled by, with the two from District one, who made luxury items for the Capitol, dressed as diamonds, those from District Seven, which produced lumber, as axes and finally us in our sheep outfits. Finally, they wrapped the replay up with the national anthem, and we were free to go. I didn't even bother to change; I simply fell on to the huge, fluffy bed, thinking of training tomorrow, and actually meeting our fellow tributes.

_Great. I get to meet the people who will all be dead in a week. _

_ And I'm one of them._


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up, once again, to the sound of Maloze's voice echoing through the halls. I sighed, and pulled myself out of bed. I dressed in the t-shirt with a large black ten on the front and the shorts that had been placed in my room overnight. _Training clothes. _All my life, I had seen small clips of the victors in them, but I had never thought I would find myself in them. I felt a warm tear as it slid down my cheek.

I shook my head. _No. I have to be strong. It already took all of our persuasion to get Gretor to believe in us. I can't let him see this. I can't let the other tributes see this lapse in strength. _I gritted my teeth, wiping the sadness away and went to the bathroom and washed my face. I finally made my way to the dining room. The servers had set up an array of dishes in a buffet. Only Maloze and I had arrived.

I grabbed a plate and loaded it with everything I could see. We always had food at home, but we had never been entirely full. I sat and began to dig in. As soon as I began to eat, Callie walked in.

"Do you remember your strategy?" She asked as she sat down.

"Stay away from the knives?"

"Well, we decided to revise it a little. Go to all the stations, but pretend to be horrible with knives. Stay there for a moment and get used to their knives for your private training session, and then act like you just can't do it, and get frustrated and leave. Oh- you know what your private training session is, right?" I shook my head. I knew what it was, but I wanted her to keep talking. Her voice was beautiful, and it seemed she never talked. "Well, at the end of the third training day, you go in front of the gamemakers and try to impress them. They give you a score of one to twelve, twelve being unreachably good, and one being shamefully low."

I nodded as Charon and Gretor walked in, filling their plates.

"So, remember the strategy?" Gretor asked Charon.

"Yep. Be horrible at what I'm good at and learn something new."

"Sounds right. But don't get lost in what you're doing. Pay attention to the other tributes. Don't get too attached, but if there's someone who you believe would make a good ally, go for it." I thought over the tributes that had stood out. _The twins from eight. The muscular girl from six. The twelve year old from seven. _

"Alright."

Gretor and Callie began to talk about all their old experiences, leaving me and Charon in silence.

"Anyone you'd like to ally?" He asked casually.

"I don't know. For some reason, the twins from eight and the girls from six and seven stand out in my mind."

"I was thinking about the boy from twelve. And the girl from two looks friendly enough- for a career."

"I don't think she volunteered."

"And no one volunteered for her? That's odd…"

I shrugged and finished my plate. "We'd better get down to the training center."

We took the elevator down in silence. About half the tributes had already arrived. We milled around, not necessarily ignoring each other, but not making any conversation either. It was strange. I think we had all realized that in a few weeks, all of us would be dead but for one. And that the people standing around us would be our killers.

Finally, the last tribute arrived, and they opened the doors to the training center. We streamed in, suddenly wide awake.

Because it was now clear.

Only one of us would come out alive.

And each of us had three days to train ourselves to be the last one standing.


End file.
